Immortal
by Shandeemilla
Summary: Yes, here it is, the sequel to 'The Victim! Tsarina wakes up to find herself in Armand's layer...Please read and REVIEW! Thanks a lot!


Immortal – Sequel to 'The Victim'.  
  
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Chapter 1 – Revelations  
  
The first thing I noticed when I gained consciousness was that I was lying on what seemed to be a soft, plush bed. My whole body was throbbing and aching, especially my head and I moaned lightly. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the dimness of the light, I noticed that I was in a small room, lit by a dim lampshade which made the room look extremely murky and gloomy. There was an armchair near a fireplace and a miniature wooden desk at the far side.  
  
I sat up gingerly and looked around. My eyes were still getting used to the dark. I ran my tongue across my lips as I seemed to be thoroughly dehydrated. However, when I felt two sharp points in the sides of my teeth, that's when I started to panic. I started to recollect all that had happened before I fell into unconsciousness. How the man, no, the vampire had bitten me and had been swigging all my blood. What had happened afterwards? I ran my hand along my neck and felt the two tiny grooves that marked the vampire's piercing.  
  
Suddenly I heard footsteps and my eyes widened in terror as I glanced towards the door. The footsteps grew louder and I could feel my heart thudding against my chest. I bit my lip anxiously and a figure entered the room. As the form came closer, I saw that it was a man. He had dark hair and his skin was unnaturally lustrous and white. The man sat on the bed beside me and took a strand of my coppery red locks between his fingers and placed it behind my ear. That was when I noticed the emerald greenness of his eyes. They were alluring and mysterious. I watched as he ran his hand from my shoulder, down my arm and trembled at the feel of his cold fingers on my skin. I looked back at him apprehensively, not making eye contact, and asked, "Who are you?" Then pausing for a second, I looked him straight in the eye and posed, "Where am I?" The man stayed surreptitiously silent and with a note of pleading in my voice, I spoke again, "Please....answer me..."  
  
Finally the man responded after what seemed like an eternity of gazing into my eyes, "I am Armand, you are in my lair as it is dangerous to go outside after sunrise, as we would burn and die."  
  
"B-b-but how?" I asked my lip trembling, "How did I get here? What happened after.....after I fell unconscious? I don't understand........Armand?" Armand gently took my hand and placed it on his icy cold forehead. I started to see flashes of what exactly had happened.  
  
At first I saw myself being bitten, then I was lying on the floor insentient. Suddenly Armand had appeared and he had held his hand above my forehead and I had awoken, gasping and shuddering. Armand had pressed his fangs into my neck and sucked my blood into him, afterwards he had leaned towards me, gashed at his throat with his fingernail, and had beckoned for me to drink. I had done so. I had sucked his blood into myself and then I had passed out again. Armand had carried me into his hideout just before the sun had risen.  
  
Suddenly the flashes stopped and Armand removed my hand from his temple. "Now do you understand?"  
  
"I–I–I think so," I answered. My head was spinning with confusion. Did all this mean that I was a vampire now? No....it couldn't be.....or could it?  
  
"Yes....I'm afraid you are a vampire... Tsarina" Armand informed me.  
  
"H-how did you know? H-how did you know what I was thinking?" I asked looking meticulously surprised, "And....and how did you know my name?"  
  
"It is a special power of the immortals," he replied, "They can read other's thoughts."  
  
"Oh." I was shocked, and speechless. Did that mean that I could read people's thoughts as well?  
  
"Yes, but you are still young, you were made just a few hours ago, thus you still need time to gain your strength and your powers," Armand explained, "And your name.....well I saw it engraved on that ring you're wearing," he pointed at the ring on the third finger of my right hand. However, I wasn't paying attention when he told me how he knew my name, as I felt dazed and mystified by what he had just told me a second ago..........  
  
"M-my strength and p-p-powers?" I stammered. I was starting to get a heinous headache and all I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and siesta. Forget about all that had happened. I wished that I could wake up and find myself mortal again, and have everything back to normal. I didn't want to be like this. My parents voices haunted me, them telling me not to go out at night in Sunnydale California because it was dangerous. Why hadn't I listened to them? Tears glazed over my eyes and I looked away from Armand, down at the bed sheets. A tear cascaded down my cheek and onto the white bed sheet, wetting it.  
  
"What's done is done my sweet, you can not change the past. You just have to face it," Armand murmured, stroking my cheek. "I felt just the same when I was made, but slowly I realised, that it wasn't so bad. Sometimes I do crave to be mortal, to indulge in mortal pleasures but one can not have everything in life."  
  
The tears suddenly were inexorable and they gushed down my cheeks in a steady flow, like a torrent. I closed my eyes tight, trying to rid myself of the agony I felt. The pain in my head was excruciating. But the tears just kept coming. I could not stop it. Armand had a pained expression on his face. Like he could feel my sentiment. He put his arms around me and embraced me. I clung onto his neck, kneeling in front of him on the bed, my tears soaking his shirt. I do not know how long I cried. I felt like I had betrayed my parents trust and look what's happened to me now. The guilt was unbearable. I just wanted to die. I felt so asinine. Why hadn't I seen that my parents had been telling the truth? My mother's soft, caring voice warning me not to go out at night kept ringing in my head and I sobbed into Armand's neck. Now I was immortal. A vampire. Dead. I had disobeyed the rules, just for the sake of it and now this was my punishment. Except, no matter how hard I tried to right my wrongs, this punishment was something that would never end.  
  
I must have drifted off to sleep, as when I opened my eyes, I was lying in Armand's arms. Slowly, I slid out of Armand's hold, I got off the bed and sauntered towards the window. Night had fallen. The stars were vivid and glimmering in the darkened sky. The moon was half covered by the greyish clouds. It was a magnificent sight. Armand came up behind me, and somehow, I had heard his soft padding footsteps. I wondered how. "Vampire's have a deeper sense of hearing than mortals do," Armand whispered into my ear. His breath on my ear made my whole body tingle, and my stomach to feel like butterflies were flapping about restlessly inside it.  
  
"Right," I said turning around to face him. Seeing him, I felt ravenous. Especially the sight of his silky smooth neck. I was shocked to find myself yearning to pierce my fangs into it. To taste his blood. The taste, which was still fresh in my mouth from last night.  
  
"You're hungry aren't you my princess?" Armand remarked, an impish smile playing across his lips. He bent towards me, bringing his neck closer to my lips and as if it was the most natural thing in the world, I plunged into his neck, drawing the blood slowly, with my newly born fangs. A feeling of delirious euphoria engulfed me and my head started spinning. Never in my life had I felt as much pleasure. This was pure bliss. Ecstasy. When I had drawn as much blood as I had needed, I drew back, and let him have his share, of me. I felt a twang of pain when Armand pierced through the skin of my neck, and I trembled slightly. The pain, however, went just as fast as it had come. Soon, I had started to see flashes of Armand's past. I saw him getting bitten, I saw a vampire with dirty blonde hair, a muscular build, and mysterious face saving him, and making him immortal, just as Armand had done to me. Then I saw a light brown haired woman, she seemed about my age and had a petite build. She was embracing the dark haired vampire that had saved Armand and Armand seemed to be watching their loving gestures with what seemed to be a deep jealousy. I wanted to find out what happened next, but Armand withdrew his fangs from my neck abruptly. I felt the wound on my neck healing, just as Armand's had.  
  
I felt like asking Armand about who the man and the blonde woman were, but I decided that I wouldn't as it was none of my business. After my feeding, I felt full of energy, however, a part of me still grieved for the past. It was hard to believe how one night could change your whole life like this. I started to wonder what life would be like as a vampire. One thing I knew for sure was that it was far different from human life.  
  
Armand's deep yet harmonious voice brought me out of my reverie and I faced him, paying attention to what he was saying. "Would you like to join me for a walk, as night has fallen, and it is safe to go outside now."  
  
"Sure," I replied and followed him out through the door. Armand took my hand and led me through a long, shadowy corridor, lit by small torches along the wall. "What, is this place? A castle or something?" I asked wondrously, my eyes roaming over the different portraits of men in suits and women in gowns.  
  
"Sort of," Armand remarked, still taking steady strides, pulling me along with him. His steady pace was much faster than mine it seemed, as I had to jog to keep with him. Luckily for me, vampire's did not need to breathe it seems, as I found myself not needing to gasp for breath.  
  
As Armand dragged me along, we passed a large full length mirror, and what I saw made me gasp in shock. I let go of Armand's hand and stepped back towards the mirror. Standing in front of it, I was just about to let out a ear piercing scream when I heard Armand's voice. He was right behind me but, the weird thing was, his reflection couldn't be seen in the mirror and mine could. "Vampire's can not see their reflections," Armand informed me, "Only, you can for now....but soon...your reflection will fade as well."  
  
"Oh," I remarked, my eyes were still wide with shock as I looked at my reflection. My hair was still the same bright crimson as it used to be, however, my skin....oh my skin....it was unnaturally pallid and smooth, almost glossy. My eyes....their vivid navy colour had started to turn a shade of azure with light lavender tint around them. My lips had turned the deep red colour of blood. My cheeks no longer contained the shade of light pink they had always had since I had been a child. They had turned more like the rest of my body, pearly white. I did not look human at all......more like a fiend. Well, what could I expect? I was a vampire after all.  
  
Armand's voice brought me out of my thoughts, "I have another mirror in one of the rooms in which a vampire can see its reflection."  
  
"Oh goody, how else would I be able to see what I look like," I said the sarcasm in my voice unmistakable. More like see how much more like a devil I'll look each day, I though to myself.  
  
"Now, now, Tsarina, you don't look like a devil....well, an enchanting temptress is more like it," Armand teased me and I playfully hit him several times. On the fourth time however, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along.  
  
Finally we arrived at a colossal black door and Armand unlocked it and held it open for me, which I thought was very chivalrous of him. No man had ever held a door open for me in a long time. Modern men were just not courteous. I thanked him as I stepped out onto the huge terrace, which held a single large garden swing. It looked extremely romantic under the dark grey clouds sweeping over the luminescent moon and dazzling stars glittering the magnificent night sky.  
  
However, the romance of the atmosphere didn't stay long because the extraordinarily brilliant moon, kept reminding me of yesterday evening and my wretched fate of becoming immortal. Even though I tried to illuminate my mind with the advantages of being immortal, they just kept fading away under the atrocious disadvantages which just would not depart from my mind.  
  
"Are you all right Tsarina?" Armand asked coming from behind.  
  
"Yeah, it's nothing," I said, trying to hide my misery but failed miserably at it.  
  
"No, it's not nothing, you must have forgotten that I can read your mind," Armand said cocking an eyebrow as he smiled. Then he continued, "I know it's hard Tsarina, but you'll get used to it...I promise." When Armand said that, he had such sincerity in his eyes that for a moment, I was completely and utterly lost for words. I just felt so thankful that I had someone. Someone like Armand.  
  
I didn't even know this guy, and yet it felt like I'd known him forever. All I felt was a deep sense of love for Armand. He had after all, saved my life. It was only because of him that I was still alive.....even as an immortal being. He had stopped me from dying, and for that, I felt bound to him.  
  
My eyes started to blur with tears and they trickled down my face. I felt so vulnerable and weak. I wasn't used to crying like this. As a human, I had always been strong and held my tears at the far end of my heart. However this was not the case now....it seemed. I couldn't stop my tears from approaching.  
  
Armand circled me within his arms and kissed my forehead, soothingly, although I could feel a profound sense of passion emanating from deep within him. I looked up into his eyes and murmured, "Thank you for saving me Armand, but why? I mean aren't vampires supposed to be dangerous, treacherous monsters of the night who do not have feeling and kill whatever they please?"  
  
"Yes, but you see....I am not any old vampire, I am one with a mortal soul," Armand stated letting go of me and taking a few steps towards the large, cushioned swing. "A vampire called Lestat gave me the gift of immortality with a soul. Now I have passed it on to you Tsarina, and you may give it to whom you please," Armand remarked, his face expressionless.  
  
I walked over to the swing and sat down on the soft cushions facing Armand, "Can I ask who gave this gift to Lestat?"  
  
Armand answered me by saying, "Another vampire named Khayman had given it to him." He rested his arm on the back of the swing and with his foot, made the swing rock back and forth, gently. "Khayman, unfortunately is no more, he lost his soul by experiencing one night of pure ecstasy with a mortal woman and he was slayed a few days later."  
  
I nodded my head, taking in everything Armand had told me. If what he was saying was what really happened, then Armand and I could both lose our souls if we experienced a moment of pure bliss with a mortal. It horrified me to think that one moment of pure happiness could lead to me being an evil monster that would kill mercilessly.  
  
I felt Armand's eagle-eye gaze upon me and I looked up from where I had been staring into the palms of my hand thoughtfully. All of a sudden, his lips were only a few millimetres away from mine. I felt lost as I gaped at the brilliant jade tint of his eyes. They were mesmerising. As the kiss deepened, I felt like I was soaring through the starlit sky, the wind, soothing my skin. Oh the intensity of that kiss was unmanageable. As I ran my hand over Armand's heart, I felt the passionate lust he was feeling and it frightened me. I pushed him back and rasped, "Armand, we shouldn't."  
  
Armand, after gathering his composure chuckled and remarked, "Do not worry my sweet, we can not lose our souls to each other, it is impossible."  
  
I let out a sigh of relief and smiled, "I'm glad."  
  
Armand bent over and kissed me once again, "I cannot get enough of you mon chéri." Then he gingerly got up and beckoned towards the gate. I stood up and took hold of the hand he had offered me and we strolled towards the gate. "Tonight, I want to introduce you to my friend Lestat," Armand informed me, "And of course the slayer....who's name is Tanaya."  
  
When he said the name Tanaya, I got a flashback of the picture I had seen while Armand had been withdrawing blood from me. I trusted my vision and decided that the brunette woman must have been Tanaya and the blonde haired mysterious man who I had seen saving Armand....that was Lestat.  
  
As the two of us were walking down an alleyway, I heard a garbage can crash down behind us. When I turned my head, I saw a group of people heading our way. "Armand, look!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Don't worry Tsarina, I'll handle this," Armand reassured me.  
  
I saw, as they came closer that these definitely were not human beings. They were vampires. I could sense it. I felt my heartbeat quicken and my stomach was being overloaded with flapping butterflies.  
  
There were about seven gruesome looking vampires heading our way....what were we going to do??  
  
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A/N : Hope you liked the first chapter of the sequel to 'The Victim'. I would be truly grateful if you all could just please read and REVIEW the chapter! Thank you!  
  
Chandi 


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